The big vendors in the enterprise software space are all aggressive competitors -- and Oracle is no exception. Paul Rubens discusses Oracle's latest moves.

Oracle is planning to take over the world. Or, at the very least, the server OS world. That's the logical conclusion to reach after hearing the recent comments of Larry Ellison, Oracle's bombastic CEO. "Solaris is clearly the No. 1 Unix, and we're working very hard at making Oracle Enterprise Linux the number one Linux," InfoWorld reported he said at a company event last week.

Being the "No. 1 Unix" is a deliberately vague claim, and it's perhaps not surprising that HP, for one, took issue with it. Noises from HP's UNIX camp are that there's been a steady flow of defections from Solaris to HP-UX, HP's own-label UNIX server OS, for some time, and it shows no signs of stopping.

HP is the No. 1 provider of enterprise servers in the world ... Larry Ellison bought a money-losing business that had steady market share declines for years, and which still ranks at the bottom of the market. Customers aren't fooled by outdated benchmarks, no matter what Oracle says. HP's market share results prove it. Sun customers are running to HP in droves because they recognize we deliver superior technology, performance and pricing,

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